Change Your Image
Bill Pierce
Reviews
Three Blind Mice (2008)
Engaging independent Australian film
Rented this on DVD in Canada, was enticed by the numerous festival designations on the box. What I found was a surprisingly engaging independent film. As has been mentioned, the plot involves three young naval officers on a last night of leave at home before returning to duty in the Persian Gulf. There is the expected camaraderie, misadventure and a certain amount of conflict, but also a surprisingly rich palette of emotions and open-ended subplots. Slowly the details of an earlier incident at sea are revealed as we come to learn more about each of the sailors. The dialogue is complex, smart and realistic, and drives the film. You may want to turn on the captions, as the Aussie accents are thick and the lines sometimes tossed on top of each other in the style of Cassavetes and Altman. Defects include a certain lack of focus and an uncertainty as to how to end the story, characteristics shared with many independent films. However, there is an underlying intelligence and understanding of human character that raises it well above average and makes it worth seeking out. Writer/director Matthew Newton, who also plays one of the sailors, has made a worthy second effort.
Away from Her (2006)
A gem from a young filmmaker of great talent
Everything written here about "Away from Her" is true. Sarah Polley is wise beyond her years and achieves near-perfect resonance with the help of great source material and assured performances from a fine cast. The film is emotional and affecting but never wallows in sentiment. The viewer is allowed room to form his or her own conclusions about the ultimate outcome.
I hope the strategy of releasing the film abroad and at festivals (it's also out on video in Canada) builds a reputation that enables its success in widespread release. It would be a shame for it to go unnoticed at Oscar time.
As an aside, while the subject matter and emotions are universal, the film is thoroughly and confidently Canadian without being provincial. As someone who has lived in both the US and Canada, I find it refreshing to see this attitude reflected in such a fine work.
Lone Star (1996)
The best film of the '90s
John Sayles is one of the best--and certainly among the most interesting--American directors working in film today. Self-financed on a small budget, using his large number of talented friends as cast and crew, Sayles crafts films that owe allegiances to no one but himself. Virtually never does he make the same film twice, and almost all of them are a great pleasure to watch.
"Lone Star" is Sayles' masterpiece. It succeeds on every level: as mystery, as romance, as social commentary. Set in a Texas border town, it creates a rich world peopled with characters and situations we understand and identify with.
There is plot, mood, color, drama, passion, suspense and even humor, but if pressed to explain what it really is about, I would say that the theme is how the present is a product of the past, and how people are given opportunities to be imprisoned by it or to transcend it.
"Lone Star" is one of only two American films of this decade (the other is "Schindler's List") to which I would give a '10'. It's been a long time since I have felt so thoroughly challenged, entertained and satisfied by a single piece of art.